Thursday, 23 June 2016

(The Source) – ICT Minister Supa Mandiwanzira broke the
rules and got a $194,000 loan from a parastatal under his Ministry for the
purchase of a vehicle, a report by the Auditor general reveals.

The Auditor General’s department, in its new report on
government ministries, also revealed how the Postal and Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) loaned $10 million to the ministry
for its acquisition of a controlling interest in Telecel Zimbabwe. The loan was
extended with no Treasury approval.

“The Ministry (of ICT, Postal and Courier Services) got
loans amounting to $10 million, $194 564 and $95 000 from POTRAZ for the
acquisition of government’s shareholding in Telecel Zimbabwe and purchasing of
the Minister and Deputy Minister’s (Win Mlambo) vehicle respectively, without
Treasury concurrence. These amounts were still outstanding as at the time the
audit was concluded,” the report says.

The Ministry also borrowed an additional $58 888 from
POTRAZ and state owned mobile operator NetOne.

Says the Auditor General: “The ministry did not provide
documentary evidence to show that they were given treasury authority to borrow
from state owned enterprises. Since the amount of $58 888 relates to
appropriation expenses by the ministry, the expenditure should be accounted for
in the 2015 financial year.”

“In addition, the ministry did not provide documentary
evidence on how it intends to account for the $10 289 564 for the purchase of
shareholding in Telecel Zimbabwe and the purchase of the Minister and Deputy
Minister’s vehicles.”

Telecel is the country’s smallest mobile telecoms firm with
2,4 million subscribers. Earlier this year, Mandiwanzira said the $40 million
purchase of Telecel had been done through ZARNet, a struggling Internet Service
Provider wholly owned by the government through the ICT Ministry.

In April, pension fund NSSA announced it had put up $30
million to buy the Telecel stake, a deal it described as “too compelling” to
pass over. Until the Auditor General’s report, it had been unclear how
government had raised the other $10 million.

NSSA chairman Robin Vera said then that the $30 million
advanced to ZARnet was not a loan but quasi-equity participation funding, which
would give NSSA equity control of Telecel Zimbabwe until certain conditions are
met by ZARNet.

“In all circumstances, NSSA will emerge as a significant
equity holder in Telecel Zimbabwe Limited”.

On February 25, the Amsterdam-headquartered telecoms giant
VimpelCom said the deal was yet to be completed. Mandiwanzira told Parliament
that the money for the stake was yet to be transferred to Vimpelcom due to cash
shortages in Zimbabwe.

Telecel’s remaining 40 percent is owned by Empowerment
Corporation, a consortium of local shareholders. The group has opposed the sale
of Vimpelcom’s 60 percent shares, although Mandiwanzira has claimed that they
too had approached NSSA to buy their shareholding.

POTRAZ’s part in the purchase of a stake in a company it is
supposed to supervise, and its loan to Mandiwanzira, may raise fresh questions
about its role as a regulator. The authority already faces criticism of being
unfair in how it treats the licensing of operators.